Jellyfish Dangers in Asia Beaches

8th Apr 2018ecostinger

Jellyfish are the most ancient species of multi-organ animalson the planet as they have been present for more than 500 million years in theseas. This makes them much older than even dinosaurs with some scientistsclaiming that their presence on Earth could easily extend beyond 700 millionyears. However, many people consider this name to be a misnomer since fishesare vertebrates.

Appearing to have an umbrella shaped bell with thin tentaclesand a floating body it’s easy to distinguish Jellyfish from other sea animals.Jellyfish have a wide range of colors similar to their habitat. While it can beeasy to spot colorful species, it may be difficult to spot them when theircolor matches surroundings as they often have translucent skin.

Classified under the phylum Cnidaria, of animal kingdom jellyfishcan range in their size from nearly one millimeter to two meters depending onthe species and age. Jellyfish often use their bell to move through water bysending contractions or pulsations through it. A collective group of jellyfishis commonly referred to as a “bloom” or a “swarm”. Jellyfish don’t havespecialized internal systems for digestion, circulation or respiration. Theyhave very thin skin which allows for diffusion of oxygen through diffusion.

Due to a wide variety of jellyfish species, they can havevarying visions as well as lifetimes. A few jellyfish species have a lifespanof mere hours while many can live up to months or a few years whereas thespecies Turritopsis dohrnii is immortal due to its ability to transform backinto a polyp (young state) under certain conditions. Similarly, while manyjellyfish species have light sensitive organs instead of eyes, the boxjellyfish has 24 eyes with advanced vision capabilities.

Dangers Jellyfish pose to humans:

Despite looking calm and beautiful, jellyfish can easilyprove to be lethal for humans. Their tentacles release venom for paralyzingtheir target. Although jellyfish generally do not attack humans, it’s very easyto come in contact with their thin tentacles unknowingly. Many times jellyfishcan also attack humans on feeling threatened and contact with tentacles of evena dead jellyfish releases the venom.

Sting of a jellyfish may not always require emergency but itcan still cause considerable discomfort. When swimming near to the beach, asingle sting can cause extreme pain along with numbness, itching and/ortingling near the stung area. But jellyfish stings can prove to be lethal whenswimming far away from shore as numerous species release numbing and extremelypoisonous venom through their stings.

Coming across a bloom of considerably simple species ofjellyfish can quickly result in hundreds of stings within a few minutes. Whilethese stings are not lethal individually, they are enough to make a personunconscious which can cause death when swimming alone.

Many types of jellyfish species including the sea wasp,irukandji and Portuguese man o’ war have lethal venom in their sting. A singlesting of these jellyfish causes a critical situation on the shore. Having awide range of sizes, many times it is nearly impossible to spot small jellyfishunder frothy sea waves.

Risk of Jellyfish on beaches in Asia:

Since jellyfish are present on all oceans of Earth, it’snearly impossible to avoid encountering them in sea water at any location onbeaches in Asia. One of the most dangerous box jellyfish is also common alongthe beaches of Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. Another deadly jellyfishknown as Portuguese Man of War are spread across the Indian and Pacific Oceanmaking them a common occurrence in nations linked to them.

Recently however, jellyfish have started moving closer toshores due to water pollution and numerous reports of large jellyfish have beenreported along the coasts of Japan. Similarly, large jellyfish capable ofdelivering lethal stings have also been reported along the coasts of SouthKorea by fishermen in the recent years.

In the South Asia region, jellyfish are more harmful as theyare tiny in size and transparent in color. Numerous deaths have been reportedin Malaysia, Singapore and India due to jellyfish stings over the past years.

While earlier jellyfish problems were limited to Australianwaters, now they are also a concern in Asian region. A large number of jellyfishhave started coming near Asian shores due to pollution and climate changes. Duringsummers, more people start going for diving and swimming on beach which leadsto increased cases of jellyfish stings.

Remedies for Jellyfish stings:

There are a number of remedies for jellyfish stings such asvinegar and cold water to treat a jellyfish sting. However, many poisonousstings require immediate medical attention and none of these treatments are availableoff shore. Prevention is better than cure and hence the best remedy to avoid jellyfishstings is by avoiding contact with their tentacles by wearing proper gear.

There are a number of stinger suits and dive skins which canhelp in resisting against jellyfish stings. Still, the safest way to avoid anycontact is through the full body cover swimsuit which does not leave any areaexposed while providing tough protection.Divers also don’t need to worry about UVprotection or take any other measures to guard their skin as these swimsuitsoffer strong and complete protection.

A full body cover swimsuit can easily defend against a largejellyfish bloom without getting damaged. Swimmers also get comfort as theseswimsuits don’t let water and moisture reach the skin and allow people to swimfor hours. The material used in good quality swimsuits also helps in cuttingthe water easily allowing the swimmer to move quickly without using mucheffort.

Divers can also pair a full body cover swimsuit with oxygencylinders and torch for diving at low pressure depths. However, it is suggestedto use proper diving equipment when diving at greater depths as normal full bodycover swimsuits are not built to sustain high water pressure. Hence, people cansimply take their goggles and their full body cover swimsuit to avoid jellyfishstings while swimming near beaches in Asia.